李

See also: 季
李 U+674E, 李
CJK UNIFIED IDEOGRAPH-674E
← 杍
[U+674D] 		CJK Unified Ideographs 杏 →
[U+674F]

Translingual

Han character

李 (radical 75, 木+3, 7 strokes, cangjie input 木弓木 (DND), four-corner 40407, composition ⿱木子)

References
  • KangXi: page 511, character 11
  • Dai Kanwa Jiten: character 14459
  • Dae Jaweon: page 895, character 9
  • Hanyu Da Zidian: volume 2, page 1162, character 8
  • Unihan data for U+674E

Chinese
simp. and trad.
 李

Glyph origin
Historical forms of the character 李
Western Zhou Shuowen Jiezi (compiled in Han) Liushutong (compiled in Ming)
Bronze inscriptions Small seal script Transcribed ancient scripts
Characters in the same phonetic series (子) (Zhengzhang, 2003) 
Old Chinese
孜 *ʔslɯ
仔 *ʔslɯ, *ʔslɯʔ
孖 *ʔslɯ, *zlɯs
子 *ʔslɯʔ
虸 *ʔslɯʔ
耔 *ʔslɯʔ
秄 *ʔslɯʔ
杍 *ʔslɯʔ
籽 *ʔslɯʔ
字 *zlɯs
茡 *zlɯs
芓 *zlɯs
牸 *zlɯs
李 *rɯʔ

Oracle bone script: Phono-semantic compound (形聲, OC *rɯʔ) : phonetic 來 (OC *m·rɯːɡ, “wheat”) + semantic 子. The phonetic part 來 became gradually corrupted to yield 木 (“tree”).

Shuowen erroneously remarks that this is a phono-semantic compound (形聲, OC *rɯʔ) : semantic 木 (“tree”) + phonetic 子 (OC *ʔslɯʔ).

Pronunciation
  • Dialectal data▼
Variety Location 李
Mandarin Beijing /li²¹⁴/
Harbin /li²¹³/
Tianjin /li¹³/
Jinan /li⁵⁵/
Qingdao /li⁵⁵/
Zhengzhou /li⁵³/
Xi'an /li⁵³/
Xining /l̩⁵³/
Yinchuan /li⁵³/
Lanzhou /li⁴⁴²/
Ürümqi /li⁵¹/
Wuhan /ni⁴²/
Chengdu /ni⁵³/
Guiyang /ni⁴²/
Kunming /li⁵³/
Nanjing /li²¹²/
Hefei /zz̩²⁴/
Jin Taiyuan /li⁵³/
Pingyao /li⁵³/
Hohhot /li⁵³/
Wu Shanghai /li²³/
Suzhou /li³¹/
Hangzhou /li⁵³/
Wenzhou /lei³⁵/
Hui Shexian /li³⁵/
Tunxi /li²⁴/
Xiang Changsha /li⁴¹/
Xiangtan /ni⁴²/
Gan Nanchang /li²¹³/
Hakka Meixian /li³¹/
Taoyuan /li³¹/
Cantonese Guangzhou /lei²³/
Nanning /li²⁴/
Hong Kong /lei¹³/
Min Xiamen (Min Nan) /li⁵³/
Fuzhou (Min Dong) /li³²/
Jian'ou (Min Bei) /li²¹/
/sɛ⁴⁴/
Shantou (Min Nan) /li⁵³/
Haikou (Min Nan) /li²¹³/
Rime
Character 李
Reading # 1/1
Initial (聲) 來 (37)
Final (韻) 之 (19)
Tone (調) Rising (X)
Openness (開合) Open
Division (等) III
Fanqie 良士切
Reconstructions
Zhengzhang
Shangfang		 /lɨX/
Pan
Wuyun		 /lɨX/
Shao
Rongfen		 /lieX/
Edwin
Pulleyblank		 /lɨX/
Li
Rong		 /liəX/
Wang
Li		 /lĭəX/
Bernard
Karlgren		 /liX/
Expected
Mandarin
Reflex		 lǐ
Baxter–Sagart system 1.1 (2014)
Character 李
Reading # 1/1
Modern
Beijing
(Pinyin)		 lǐ
Middle
Chinese		 ‹ liX ›
Old
Chinese		 /*C.rəʔ/
English plum

Notes for Old Chinese notations in the Baxter–Sagart system:

* Parentheses "()" indicate uncertain presence;
* Square brackets "[]" indicate uncertain identity, e.g. *[t] as coda may in fact be *-t or *-p;
* Angle brackets "<>" indicate infix;
* Hyphen "-" indicates morpheme boundary;

* Period "." indicates syllable boundary.
Zhengzhang system (2003)
Character 李
Reading # 1/1
No. 17869
Phonetic
component		 子
Rime
group		 之
Rime
subdivision		 0
Corresponding
MC rime		 里
Old
Chinese		 /*rɯʔ/

Definitions

李

  1. plum (tree and fruit)
  2. (astronomy) Zeta Virginis
  3. † Alternative form of 理 (lǐ, “judge; justice”).
  4. A surname​, listed fourth in the Baijiaxing

Usage notes

In mainland China and among its expatriates, this surname is generally romanized as "Li" in accordance with the Hanyu Pinyin system. Although an identical transliteration is used in Wade-Giles, similarity to the English surname has made the romanization "Lee" more common in Hong Kong and Taiwan. A notable example of this is Bruce Lee.

Descendants
  • → English: Li, Lee
  • → Tagalog: Sy (via Hokkien)

Compounds
  • 李廟／李庙 (Lǐmiào)
  • 李廣射虎／李广射虎
  • 李廣難封／李广难封
  • 李思訓碑／李思训碑
  • 李杜 (Lǐ-Dù)
  • 李榨 (Lǐzhà)
  • 李樓／李楼 (Lǐlóu)
  • 李灘／李滩 (Lǐtān)
  • 李灣／李湾 (Lǐwān)
  • 李爾王／李尔王
  • 李耳
  • 李膺門／李膺门
  • 李郭同舟
  • 李集 (Lǐjí)
  • 李靖
  • 桃來李答／桃来李答
  • 桃李 (táolǐ)
  • 桃李之教
  • 桃李滿門／桃李满门
  • 桃李爭妍／桃李争妍
  • 桃李爭輝／桃李争辉
  • 桃李門牆／桃李门墙
  • 檇李／槜李
  • 歐李／欧李
  • 正冠李下
  • 比張比李／比张比李
  • 沉李浮瓜
  • 浮瓜沉李
  • 濃桃豔李／浓桃艳李
  • 牛李黨爭／牛李党争
  • 瓜李之嫌
  • 瓜田李下 (guātiánlǐxià)
  • 色豔桃李／色艳桃李
  • 苦李
  • 華李／华李 (Huálǐ)
  • 行李 (xínglǐ)
  • 行李箱 (xínglǐxiāng)
  • 行李袋
  • 西李灣／西李湾 (Xīlǐwān)
  • 豔如桃李／艳如桃李
  • 賣李鑽核／卖李钻核
  • 道傍李
  • 道傍苦李
  • 郁李 (yùlǐ)
  • 鐵拐李／铁拐李
  • 門牆桃李／门墙桃李
  • 魏李 (Wèilǐ)

Further reading

Japanese

Kanji
李

(“Jinmeiyō” kanji used for names)

  1. plum

Readings
  • Go-on: り (ri)
  • Kan-on: り (ri)
  • Kun: すもも (sumomo, 李)
  • Nanori: もも (momo); い (i)

Noun

李 (hiragana すもも, rōmaji sumomo)

  1. plum (Prunus salicina)

Alternative forms

Proper noun

李 (katakana リ, hiragana り, rōmaji Ri)

  1. Japanese reading of the Chinese or Korean surname.

李 (katakana リー, hiragana りい, rōmaji Rī)

  1. Japanese reading of the Chinese surname.

李 (katakana イ, hiragana い, rōmaji I)

  1. Japanese reading of the South Korean surname.

Korean

Hanja

李 (eumhun 오얏나무 리 (oyannamu ri), South Korea 오얏나무 이 (oyannamu i))

  1. (North Korea) 리, (South Korea) 이: the second most common surname in Korea
  2. (North Korea) 리, (South Korea) 이: plum

Usage notes

Historically, 李 (lǐ) was called 오얏나무,리 (oyannamu,ri) Oyatnamu Lee, which is a pure Korean word for Sino-Korean word from 紫桃 자두 (jadu)

Vietnamese

Han character

李 (lí, lý)

  1. A Vietnamese family name.
  2. An unisex given name.

References
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